A series of attacks by a party of Bushrangers on homesteads
in the Plenty River area north of Melbourne in 1842 led to the first calls for a
volunteer force. One of the petitions read:

We the resident Ladies of the Plenty River and the
surrounding neighbourhood having received such a shock by the late brutal attack
of the Bushrangers on our lives and property, feel ourselves no longer
sufficiently secure to remain so far from Town -- unless some urgent means are
adopted to prevent, and put down, these violent outrages.

The yeomanry corps was to be called the `Port Phillip
Volunteers'. Twelve military districts were envisaged, each to be commanded by a
former army captain. The volunteers would be heavily armed with a rifle, two
pistols and a sword. A dark green uniform was planned.

At first there had been favourable consideration by local
authorities, although there was some consternation that the proposed Volunteer
force would elect its own officers. It was, of course, illegal to raise
any armed force in any part of the British Empire except with express approval
of the Crown. A special Act would be required to overcome this obstacle, and
interest in the idea quickly evaporated. Twelve years later, the Eureka
rebellion at Ballarat demonstrated why such a law against the formation of an
armed force without authority was necessary!

That same year, 1854, Governor Sir Charles Hotham approved
an Act to establish a Volunterr Corps not exceeding 2000, with officers
appointed by the Governor. The first unit formed was the Melbourne Volunteer
Rifle Regiment. Soon there were the Richmond Rifles, The Emerald Hill Rifles,
the East Collingwood Rifles and the Fitzroy Rifles, commanded by Judge Redmond
Barry. Cavalry and artillery units quickly followed. By 1860, the Act had been
amended to allow a Volunteer force of 10,000.

The volunteers expanded into a variety of new areas--into
cavalry and accompanying horse artillery units, an increasing multiplicity of
field and garrison artillery batteries, and a Corps of Engineers out of which
grew a fine Torpedo Corps.

One factor about the volunteers irked paid staff officers,
HQ staffs and visiting British officers. This was the volunteers' right to elect
NCOs and, in some units, junior officers. The demise of the volunteers soon
after a Royal Commission in 1875 saw an end to this democratic
anomaly.

At the 1875 Royal Commission opinion against the
Volunteers' preparedness for battle predominated. Giving evidence about the lack
of firing ranges, Major F. T. Sargood, CO of the St Kilda Battery, stated drily:
'At present the Field Artillery are utterly ignorant--except in theory--as to
the elevation and range of their guns'. Despite reforms, the inadequacies of
Australian artillery continued well into World War 1, where artillery support
for frontline battalions was at first almost non-existent.

Colonial Victoria related
books(take a peek without leaving this site)

THE KELLY GANG
BRINGS OUT THE GARRISON ARTILLERY

Australia's icon bushranger Edward
'Ned' Kelly and his gang's robberies in NE Victoria and southern NSW stretched
the Victoria Police force to the limit. Police sent to the area were usually
urban members with no bush skills and little understanding of the struggles of
bushfolk. The government responded by drafting members of the Garrison Artillery
to help guard banks. After the raid on a bank at Euroa in December 1878,
artillerymen were sent to towns like Seymour (15 December) and Shepparton
(November 1879-January 1880) to stem local panic about the Kellys, who seemed to
appear and vanish at will in remote and rugged 'Kelly
country'.

View of Glenmore, King Valley,

and Victoria's alpine country,

from Power's Lookout near

Whitfield. As a youth, Ned

Kelly apprenticed himself to

veteran bushranger Henry

Power. This became part of

'Kelly Country'--an impossible

puzzle of bush, scrub, forest

and mountain fastnesses.

On 28 June 1880, a further artillery
detachment complete with a 12 pounder field gun, was dispatched from Melbourne
by train to take part in the seige at the Glenrowan Inn. Such a gun would have
reduced the hotel to splinters in minutes. But the seige ended early when Ned
Kelly, clad in armour, exchanged shots with police and the hotel was set on
fire--while the artillerymen champed impatiently at Seymour.

Police Superintendent Hare, wounded at
Glenrowan, was hidden away at Rupertswood near
Sunbury by his brother-in-law Sir William Clarke. 'Big' Clarke armed his
servants, telling them to 'keep a good lookout for fear of some of the Kelly
sympathisers coming to shoot Mr Hare'. For his part, Hare presented Sir William
with parts of Ned Kelly's armour and his rifle souvenired at
Glenrowan.

Now dilapidated, Ned Kelly grew up in this home

built by his father in the 1850s near Melbourne. The Kelly family
gradually moved away from

the growing city to places like Avenel, and Lurg (near Greta) to escape
increasing police

attention. The later Kelly homes at Avenel and Lurg have vanished
completely. At

Avenel, schoolboy Ned Kelly saved a schoolmate from drowning and was
awarded

a sash. Touchingly, he wore this treasured sash at the wild shootout at
Glenrowan.

Ned and Dan Kelly helped build this fine

homestead in 1875-6, still in excellent condition today. Ned Kelly was
often described as a labourer,

but he here demonstrated his skills as a stone mason. The building is of
pink granite from the local

area. Already convicted of relatively minor crimes, Ned Kelly hoped that
by 'going straight' he could

escape a life of criminality. The homestead strongly demonstrates his
hopeful spirit then. An impend-

ing court case against his mother, and the need to engage legal help led
the Kellys to a life of further

minor crimes. Despite these efforts, Ellen Kelly went to gaol.

Stringybark Creek
today.

It was close to this spot
that three Victoria Policemen

were shot by the Kelly Gang in 1878. The creek
provided

water sufficient for a small bush campsite.
Noise from the

police camp drew the Kelly Gang which had a
secret, solid

timber hideout in the dense forest
nearby.

Ned Kelly's plan to hostage the police went
awry when the

policemen went for their guns. A survivor
belatedly brought

news of the murders to Mansfield some twenty
kilometres

away.

From that moment on, the fate of the Kelly Gang
was sealed.

Lt-Col Robert Rede.

Geelong Volunteer Rifle Corps

(Photo in the Geelong Historical Records Centre).

Colonel Robert Rede in the 1860s
commanded the Geelong Rifles (strictly, the Geelong Volunteer Rifle Corps), one
of the colony's many volunteer units. Earlier, in 1854, he had (as Ballarat
Goldfield Commissioner) authorised the attack on the Eureka Stockade. Later, he presided as Sheriff of
Melbourne during the execution of Australia's best known bushranger, Ned Kelly,
in 1880. Rede was quite typical of the leadership of the Victorian Volunteer
units, a larger than life figure who commanded and demanded respect and devotion
from his men.

Later, Colonel Tom Price, in 1885
created the Victorian Mounted Rifles. A Royal Commission in 1875 had resulted in
most of the volunteers transferring to the Militia. During the Boer War, Price had led the 2nd
Contingent, becoming the only Australian Officer given command of a combined
British and Australian force during the Boer War. He earlier made a name for
himself as the 'scourge of the Unions'. Controversially, the Colonel was accused
of having told his men to shoot to kill during the Maritime Strike in Melbourne
in 1890. His exact words were found to have been 'fire low and lay the
disturbers of law and order out'. Thankfully, no shots were actually fired. The
colourful Colonel survived Parliamentary anger and scrutiny of his actions. The
devotion of his men was considerable and notable throughout his rich military
career.

Williamstown Naval Brigade

Field Gun Crew, 1889. In a

private collection.

In late 1861, the strength of
Victoria's defences consisted of two Corps of Naval Brigade, seven Corps of
volunteer Artillery, 13 Corps of volunteer rifles and one Corps of
Engineers.

By 1900, due in part to the Boer War in
South Africa, the strength of the Local Forces was measured thus: Naval (332),
Military (5947), Rifle Clubs (13,378) and Cadets (3788) -- a total of more than
22,000.

Gunner [Dr]
Douglas Shields, Rupertswood Battery,

Victorian Horse Artillery. Later in 6th Aust. Commonwealth Horse.

VICTORIA VOLUNTEER

LONG and
EFFICIENT SERVICE MEDAL

1881 - 1901

Victoria was the only Colony and State
in Australia to provide a Long Service Medal of `strictly local content'. All
other states had medals mostly identical to the British issue, but with State
names on the reverse. These medals were stuck by the Royal Mint in London. The
Victorian medal, with its other differences, was struck in Melbourne by Thomas
Stokes. [Williams, R. D.: The Victoria Volunteer Long
And Efficient Service Medal: 1881-1901: Hawthorn Press, Melbourne:
1976]

The medal had an unusual distinction in
that Officers for several years in the 1890s were forbidden to wear one. They
were still allowed to receive the medal, but not to wear it! Robert Rede (above)
was one of the first recipients in 1881.

The medal was granted to those in the
Victorian Local Forces who had achieved 15 years efficient
service.

Professional researcher Helen Harris OAM advises that
details about the medal are in The Age, 26 January 1881, page two, and the
list of recipients and the ceremony details are in The Age, 27 January 1881,
page three.

RIFLE CLUBS
(1884)

An important innovation for the future
began in 1883 with the establishment of rifle clubs throughout Victoria. Rifles
and ammunition could be purchased from the Ordnance Stores at reduced rates.
Members could travel by rail free when taking part in rifle matches. By 1890,
there were sufficient clubs for the organisation to be split into six districts.
There was at least one club that was mounted.

Richmond Rifle Club at its Church Street Headquarters, n.d.,

early 1900s. Photo provided by Gordon R. Burrowes, proud

grandson of Captain Bill Smith, lying on ground (left).

CADETS

VICTORIAN CADETS
1901

Former cadets later helped provide a
nucleus for the formation of the Victorian contingents that volunteered for
service in the Boer War. The cadets were used to discipline, and had learned
drill, weapons training and how to care for their equipment. Volunteers who
enrolled often were already in volunteer units or had experienced cadet
training. It was relatively easy to retrain these individuals . .
.

Cadet companies could be formed after
1884 in any Victorian school in detachments of not less than 20. Armed with the
Francotte breech loading rifle, the cadets were supplied with ammunition at
half-price by the government, the same as to Victoria's many Rifle Clubs. A
handsome trophy shield for shooting was keenly contested. It had to be won three
times before becoming the property of the winners. It was finally won in 1891 by
the Kensington State School Corps.

Junior Cadets wore khaki and a soft
felt hat. Seniors wore Lincoln green uniforms. A battalion of senior cadets
formed the recruitment link between the cadet movement and the
militia.

DVDs including
memorable Australians at war movies(take a peek without leaving this
site)

Do you have photos or diaries, etc., of
people who served in the various Victorian Volunteer Rifle Corps, Naval Brigade,
Artillery, Cavalry, or was a Cadet or a member of the Rifle Clubs of last
century?

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